Like another guy said before in another post.....it does not matter when you take the fish out of the lake. If they took it in november last year that fish would not be there to milk anyway. It is hard to swallow when all you are thinking this time of year is spawn and you see all of those fish getting taken. All your hearing is "let them spawn and then take them".......they did...last year. I am not fully on board with it but think of all the fish non tribals are taking out every year. I absolutely love this lake because you never know what your about to get ...over 28 incher or 14-15 incher. That is absolutely the best part about this lake. Lots of potential trophies!!!!!!!!! Hurry up night and go away so I can start my journey to the place I love.

Icehooker,
I agree, but taking the eggs during netting would be better than nothing. Right now the eggs are going directly into the garbage can.

Icehooker
So what you are saying is that there would not be an extra 20 million plus eggs every year if they did their netting a couple weeks after spawn. Don't really understand the thinking behind that point at all.
Duane

Hang in there Hanson;
When something is wrong, there's nothing wrong with calling it wrong.

The "loss" you get from taking them "before" the spawn is NOT an annual event, it's a ONE TIME loss. If you look at it from one perspective, they are taking these fish "after" the spawn -- 11.5 months after last year's spawn. This is easier to see with an example.

Here's 2 scenarios -- just hypothetically say that there's 1000 fish in a lake and there's 1 fish taken out via net each year. We can take a look at the total fish that spawn over a 5 year interval:

First, "net" the fish after they spawn -- all fish will spawn:
Year 1 1000 fish
Year 2 999 fish
Year 3 998 fish
Year 4 997 fish
Year 5 996 fish
Total spawning fish in 5 years: 4990

Second example: take fish before they spawn - now there's 1 less fish spawning each of the 5 years...
Year 1 999 fish
Year 2 998 fish
Year 3 997 fish
Year 4 996 fish
Year 5 995 fish
Total spawning fish in 5 years: 4985


Difference if you take the fish before or after the spawn -- minimal -- 5 fish out of roughly 5 thousand, or one tenth of one percent....not coincidentally, the same ratio as the netting percentage each year (1 out of 1000).

Whether you keep the process going for 5 years or 50, you still only have 'lost' a ratio of whatever 1 year's worth of netting is. In this case, one tenth of one percent, which is the quantity that were 'netted' each year in my hypothetical example. It is NOT a cumulative effect.

Hypothetical numbers aside, the point here is that if you waited until "after" the spawn this year, it's still "before" next year's spawn. If you wait for that, you could always wait for the next one. My numbers are purely hypothetical....I'm not saying that the netting is one tenth of a percent of the 'eye population. Heck, it might be less or it might be more, I don't know. I'm simply pointing out that the math says waiting for 1 more spawn won't have as much of an effect as your "20 million eggs every year" statement makes it seem.

And calling it "wrong" does not make a person racist.

I do see your point, didn't know they also did it in the fall. When do they do their netting in the fall? I just don't see the point in letting all those eggs go to waist, when they can be used for the DNR's restocking program. If I remember my history right, the indian tribes were very big on not letting things they catch and kill go to waste. They used every part of the animal they killed. Correct me if i'm wrong. But wasn't that one of the reasons the tribes of the 1800's was so mad at the white man, because we wasted the buffalo and other animals. But now the times are different and they are wasting the eggs of the fish and we are suppose to just sit back and not say nothing. I just think that if they did it with trap nets, the results would benefit us both. Right. Just my .02.
Duane

Or just do it by hook and line. Just get rid of that gill net. They can have a limit of 50 per person if they want with the same 122,000 pound harvest they have, but do it by hook and line. With a protected slot of 18-28" like we have and be able to fish pre-spawn like they do now. The problem in my eyes is the gill net. Ban the gill net!

Think about it for a minute!! Duane

I think aanderud's chart is pretty good .

I'm with aanderud, the numbers are immaterial. Environmental factors each spawning season, IMO, have much more bearing than the amount of females taken during this "rite". I know seeing the videos and hearing all the opinions voiced by both sides gets everyone all fired up, but we need to relax a little. Its like the kid who always makes trouble to get a little attention. When you ignore his antics he sees that its not as much fun to make trouble when no one is watching. I think people should pay less attention to this whole issue and let the chips fall where they may. Maybe the other side may tend to think that this isn't as much fun when no one is watching and pi$$ing and moaning. BTW, I am as against this as much as, or probably more than the rest of you. Just my .02

later,
toddb

Duane... If they did it after the spawn then we could, even though its quite premature, call that time of the year pre spawn as well because that fish wont be there next year. 20 million.....I think it would be a little more than that.

they dont net in the fall I was just using that as an example.

Thanks aandurud for the example.

Like I said in my post. Why waste the eggs? Thats all I'm getting at guys.

Well I suppose everyone that keeps a female this weekend could strip it out too...but that ain't gonna' happen either...they aren't all done spawning, and nowhere near, up north farther, in other lakes...

What's the point, fill the lake to overcapacity, so they all become runty???

Close the lake completely for 5+ years to all fishing, and only Natural Reproduction, and then you will see it closer to the way Nature intended...